The Digital Camera Magazine Review on The Belair X 6-12

A reporter from China's "The Digital Camera Magazine" has tried our new Belair X 6-12 for size! Intrigued to hear what they thought? The review is as follows...

The Vintage Design
The most special point of this camera is the accordion. When you want to take a photo just push the button and the accordion will jump out! The advantage of this kind of design is that the 120mm camera basically stealthily masquerades as a small brick (but not as heavy) when you’re not taking photos! Yes…It composed as a brick. The size doesn’t reduce too when the accordion is closed. So bring your camera bags with it. Overall the Belair X 6-12 is different from the classic 135mm cameras, such as LC-A+.

Owing to the cool body of this camera, I don’t think too many people will leave and forget it inside their camera bags. This accordion camera will give you a totally new idea and perspective on vintage cameras.

The LOMO lenses are famous for their extreme color and the framing of each photo, not their resolution. The lens of the Belair X 6-12 followed the rules of LOMO lens, with an even wider angle. So we can expect a clear depth and rich image as a result.

58mm lens and 90mm lens: one is good for landscape while the other one is prefect for portrait. Due to the limited amount of time we had to spend with the Belair we only took a few rolls of black and whites but we’re nonetheless surprised with the powerful result of the Belair’s wide angle and large focal length. The multiple-exposure itechnique is cool to try with it too! The only thing I would say is that there’s only two ISOs that can be set: F8 and F16.

Lomography cameras are always user-friendly. The Belair X 6-12 follows that standard too! Put the film in, open the accordion, set the focus, push the shutter, and that’s all! The auto-exposure system is a little bit tricky. So I suggest to turn the ISO lower for optimal lighting. The most interesting thing about this camera is the view finder. With special formats: 6×12, 6×9 and 6×6.

Magazine › Reviews
¶ Finally Unboxed My Long Anticipated Belair X 6-12 Jetsetter
December 04, 2012
I am happy to announce that I am one of the four lucky Belair testers in Taiwan and thus I’m one of the pioneers to have the Belair X 6-12 Jetsetter in my hands! Now, let’s get ready to unbox my treasure with me!

I have long been shooting with Lomographic cameras and am always keeping an eye out for new cameras from Lomography. This time, they launched a new treasure in the form of the medium format Belair X 6-12 Jetsetter. It’s a lightweight camera that’s operated with an auto-exposure system. It can shoot in 3 formats (6×12, 6×9, and 6×6). It also comes with 2 interchangeable lenses.

Though the lenses are made of plastic they are high quality optical lenses which reduces the weight of the camera yet retains the sharpness of the images that glass lenses produce. From now on, we don’t need to bring our heavy medium-format cameras everywhere and still be able to enjoy shooting in 120 format, the “lighter way”.
1/4|previous photo|next photo|show all photos

Do you see that little round hole to the right of the lens? That’s for light-detecting. So mind the hole and be sure not to block it with your finger when shooting!

Remember to change the mask (there are 3 masks that come with the camera) when shooting photos of different format; one of them has already been inserted into the Belair!

Two interchangeable lenses, which are 90mm and 58mm respectively, have to be changed with the corresponding viewfinder; otherwise parallax occurs.

When looking through the viewfinder you can see some tooth-like markers which mark the view corresponding to shots that would be taken with different formats. The inner tooth correspond to 6×6 while the peripheral ones correspond to 6×9, which is quite easy to remember.

This is where we put the LR44 batteries. It’s easily opened. Note the marker +/- on the pole and beware not to put the batteries in the wrong position (though you could still shoot in a brightly lit environment even if you put the batteries in the wrong way!)

The upper part of the photos shows the door to the battery compartment, and the round thing you see is the wheel for ISO adjustment which should be done before shooting. ISO ranges from 50 to 1600, with bulb mode.

There are 2 little windows for viewing the film at the back of the camera, the upper one for 6×9 and the lower one for 6×6 and format.

YEAH! Our unboxing ceremony for my Belair X 6-12 Jetsetter has come to an end. So please, look forward to our photos taken with the Belair! :)

We all love medium format photography, and that’s why we developed the brand new Belair X 6-12 camera. With the smart auto exposure system and the ability to shoot in 3 formats: 6 × 12、6 x 9、6 x 6, Belair X 6-12 enables you to shoot the most stunning analogue masterpieces ever. Get your own Belair X 6-12 camera from our Online Shop now!

Share

5 Likes

No Comments

More Interesting Articles

Wide-angle lens are further divided into sub-classifications: Wide, ultra-wide and ultra-ultra-wide. Based on current standards, wide lenses for 35mm cameras are those with focal lengths ranging from 24 to 35mm. Lenses are considered ultra-wide if they have focal lengths from 17 to 21 mm, and ultra-ultra-wide if from 12 to 16mm. The New Russar+ is a 20mm lens; hence it falls under the ultra-wide classification. If you have an ultra-wide lens or if you intend to get the Russar+, you might as well make the most out of your precious investment. Read on for a few guidelines on shooting with ultra-wide lenses.

Before the end of 2014, my girlfriend took the plunge of purchasing a rangefinder camera from eBay as a late Christmas gift for me. Let me present to you: the Fed 5. The Fed 5 has been known as a copy of the Leica M3 rangefinder camera. It is inexpensive compared to Leica models. So what are my experiences of using the Fed 5? Read on to find out more.

Shop News

Photos shot with a New Petzval lens are immediately recognizable for their super-sharp focus areas and wonderful swirly bokeh effect. Each New Petzval lens is crafted from brass (just like the original Petzval lens) and features premium glass optics. Together with Lomography, the lenses have been designed and constructed by a team of optics specialists at the Zenit factory in Russia. Zenit are master lens manufacturers and have the skill to build the Petzval lens for use with today’s SLR cameras.

Liron Peretz is a talented Berlin-based fashion photographer who has been covering Fashion Week events for the last three years. For Lomography, she took the New Petzval Lens to the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Berlin. Find out how she got along with it in this exclusive interview and see some of her beautiful backstage photos!

Those long, frosty, dark nights are finally behind us. It's time to dust of your Diana F+; wipe down your LC-A Wide and get shooting again! Join us for some fabulous workshops and events in Soho and come and visit us in March at the Birmingham NEC as part of The Photography Show 2015. Read on for the full line up.

Shop News

They may look a little unassuming, but you should never underestimate the power of camera lens filters for they can greatly affect the appearance of your photographs. The Color Filter Set includes blue, green, orange, red, and yellow filters which you can use to get the right monochromatic shades when photographing in black and white. Meanwhile, the Super Filter Set also includes the same filters as the abovementioned set, plus the UV, CPL, and ND4 filters which you can use when shooting in full color. These are all 58mm filters – perfect for your Petzval Art Lens too!

As a professional photography graduate, Fernando never goes out without carrying at least one camera and treats it as an integral part of his body. Although he uses both digital and analog gears, he still regards using film as a more intimate way of creating images. Let's all welcome our newcomer from Brazil, Fernando Monteiro.